Joint



D. D. WlLE Feb. 4, 1958 JOINT 2 SheetsI-Sh'eet INVENTOR.

UTTOP/JEVS' Original Filed June 10, 1949 Feb. 4, 1958 D. D. WILE JOINT 2 Sheets-Sheet Original Filed June 10, 1949 m J 1 5 M @N 7 mu mu a o Q Q f O A. Q Q N\.,..

QQ QQ INVENTOR. DEN/EL D. W/LE prreA/gys' United States Patent JOINT Daniel D. Wile, Whittier, Calif., assignor to Refrigeration Engineering, Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California 3 Claims. (Cl. 22080) My invention relates to evaporative condensers and included in the objects of my invention are:

First, to provide an evaporative condenser wherein air is blown rather than drawn through the heat exchanging elements of the condenser, thus placing the blower or other air supplying device in -a region of relatively dry air rather than in a region of moisture laden air whereby corrosion or the accumulation of mineral deposits on the blades and other parts of the blower is avoided.

Second, to provide an evaporative condenser which incorporates a novel yet simple means without moving parts for continuously bleeding a predetermined proportion of the water from the condenser, whereby the mineral concentration in the water is maintained at a predetermined minimum.

Third, to provide an evaporative condenser which employs a. novel Water tight enclosure incorporating readily removable panels so that all parts of the apparatus are accessible for cleaning or servicing.

Fourth, to provide an evaporative condenser wherein an eliminator employed to remove excess moisture from the discharging air is disposed so as to be readily removable for cleaning and servicing.

Fifth, to provide on the whole an evaporative con denser which is particularly effective in its operation, easily serviced, and economical of manufacture.

With the above and other objects in view as may appear hereinafter reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a denser.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof, taken substantially in the plane 22 of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through 3-3 of Figure 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed view taken in the plane 44 of Figure 1.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the frame elements employed in my apparatus.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken through 66 of Figure 3.

This application is a division of my now Patent No. 2,680,599, filed June 10, 1949, Serial No. 98,295 for an Evaporative Condenser.

My evaporative condenser is encased in a housing 1 of generally rectanguar form. The housing includes frame members 2 which delineate the corner of the housing. The lower ends of the upright frame members fit in the corners of a reservoir pan 3. The pan is in turn supported in a base frame 4 including corner legs.

Frame members 2 of the frame structure are preferably formed of angle iron with the legs of the angle iron facing outwardly, as best seen in Figures 4 and 5. Removable side panels 5 are provided with inturned flanges 5 at their extremities. Corner strips 6 have preferably a convex curvature and engage the adjacent extremities of side panels 5 so that they form a chamber between said frame members 2 and said corner strips with perspective view of my evaporative conthe extremities of said side panels between said frame members and corner strips with the intur-ned flanges within said chamber 30. The angle irons are provided with threaded clips 7 to receive screws 8 which project through the corner strips. As the screws are tightened, the corner strip 6 is drawn towards the frame member 2. As hereinafter will be described, the pressure inside the housing is higher than atmospheric pressure outside said housing and is saturated with moisture. This construction provides a pair of seals preventing escape of moisture from said housing, the first seal between the frame member 2 and side panel 5 and the second seal between the corner strip 6 and side panel 5. Between these two seals the chamber forms a pressure trap so that moisture escaping between the frame members and side panels is directed into said chamber 30. Inturned flanges 5' may be provided on the panel 5 to stiflien said panel and for holding the panel in place during assembly. As will be apparent from the drawings, the chamber 30 is out of the path of air flow. The moisture carrying air being forced through the evaporative condenser is, of course, under pressure and has a given velocity. That portion of the air that leaks or passes into the chamber 30 will be substantially without velocity in the chamber and, therefore, any water that it carries above its saturation will settle out within the chamber 30 and will return to the reservoir pan 3 in the bottom of the evaporative condenser. The moisture thus condenses inside the chamber and not outside the housing. In this manner an inexpensive seal may be constructed of all metal parts.

The housing includes a top panel or member 9 which may be secured to the horizontal members of the frame structure in the manner of the side panels. Formed corner members 10 cover the adjacent ends of the marginal strips 6.

Mounted on the top member 9 is a fan or blower housing 11 in which is mounted a blower 12, the discharge end of which is directed into the housing 1. The blower is driven by a motor 13 also mounted on the top member 9. The discharge end of the blower is located adjacent one end of the housing, and within the housing a partition or bafile member 14 extends downwardly to a point near the reservoir pan so that incoming air is forced to the bottom portion of the housing.

The top member 9 is provided, at its end opposite from the blower 12, with an outlet stack 15. Within the stack 15 there is mounted a moisture eliminator 16, which comprises nesting sets of zigzag baflles 17. These are preferably mounted in a frame in the form of a drawer so that they can be removed as a unit through a lateral opening provided in the outlet stack, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 2.

Within the housing 1, above the lower end of the baffle 14, are heat exhanger coils 18. Above the heat exchanger coils are disposed a series of nozzles 20 supplied from a common supply pipe 21, which extends from the housing 1 and downwardly to a pump 22 located at one side of the housing. The pump 22 is connected by an intake line 23 to the interior 'of the reservoir pan 3. Water is supplied to the reservoir pan through a valve 24 controlled by a float 25. Heat exchanger coils 18 are connected to a fluid circulating system, not shown. In the construction illustrated, the coils 18 are primarily intended to circulate a heated fluid so that its heat may be transferred to the water spray and air stream utilizing to a large degree the heat of the evaporation of the water. However, the coils, if desired, may circulate a cooling fluid for the purpose of absorbing heat from the water spray and air so that, for example, a cooled air may be delivered to the ducts of an air conditioning system.

The reservoir pan 3 is provided with a sump 26 located under the heat exchanger coils 18. Mounted in I v I 2,822,110

the sump 26 is. an overflow pipe 27. The upper end of the overflow pipe 27 is provided with a bleeder cone 28. The cone or basin 28 has a predetermined area which permits, for example, ten percent (10%) or some other selected proportion of the spray water'to escape into the bleeder cone and overflow pipe. By this arrangement the mineral content of the water as it is circulated is prevented from rising above a predetermined value.

It will be observed that the blower forces the air upwardly through the heat exchanger coils and the downwardly flowing water spray. The blower does not come in contact with the moisture laden air discharging from the evaporative condenser and therefore is well protected against excessive corrosion or accumulation of mineral deposits. v The eliminator 16 tends to condense out of the air excess moisture which drains back into the reservoir pan. The baflies or plates of the eliminator are, of course, subject to corrosionand accumulation of mineral deposits, however, by reason of the fact that the eliminator is arranged in the form of a drawer and can be readily withdrawn for service or replacement, the problem of maintaining the eliminator in good condition is reduced to a minimum.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that i do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth but my invention is of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a housing having panel walls and adapted to contain fluid under pressure, a moisture-proof joint, comprising: a rigid, elongated, outwardly facing, channelshaped frame member including outwardly extending flanges along the opposite sides thereof, each flange of said frame member being overlapped by the respective edge portion of the adjacent panel with the free edges of said flanges abutting the inner faces of said panels adjacent to the respective edge portions thereof and along substantially the entire extent thereof; an elongated, inwardly facing, channel-shaped corner strip positioned outwardly of said frame member and panels, the opposite side portions of said corner strip overlapping and abutting the respective outer edge portions of said panels at points opposite said flange edges and along substantially the entire extent of said panel edge portions to define a pressure trap chamber between said corner strip and said frame member, said pressure trap chamber'being thereby positioned between the high pressure within said housing and the atmospheric pressure outside said housing; and pressure tie means drawing said corner strip toward said frame member to tightly seal said edge portions of said panels therebetween, thereby retarding flow 'from t he high pressure interior of said housing.

2. The joint of claim 1 wherein the outer edge portions of said panels .are bent inwardly to form flanges directed away from said corner strip. 1 T

3. The joint of claim 1 wherein said frame memberis substantially L-shaped in configuration and wherein said corner strip has a rounded convex inner surface with the opposite side edge portions thereof overlying the respective edge portions of said panels in surface-to-surface engagement therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Cornelius Sept. 3, 19 35 

